2006 Competitors

Henri Alain d'Andria (France)

Henri has run numerous marathons around the world and by completing the Antarctic Ice Marathon he finished a marathon on all seven continents. Henri says he caught the marathon bug from his very first race nine years ago, and although difficult to combine training with long hours of work, he uses running as a great way to unwind and relax. Included in his marathon CV are New York, London (twice), Rotterdam, Hamilton, Peking, Stockholm, Chicago, Monaco, Maranello Ferrari, La Rochelle, Buenos Aires and one in his native Marseille. He has also completed the Two Oceans ultra in South Africa, a half-marathon in Rio de Janeiro and many other half-marathons in France. Henri finished seventh in the sister race of the Antarctic Ice Marathon - the North Pole Marathon - in April 2006. Hence, he became a member of the Marathon Grand Slam Club by completing one on each of the seven continents and on the Arctic Ocean. In addition to winning the marathon in a new record time of 5:08:17, Henri also finished second in the 100k event.

Richard Donovan (Ireland)

Richard, who won the Antarctic 100k in a time of 12:55:06, is the organiser and race director of both the North Pole Marathon and Antarctic Ice Marathon races. In addition to completing events in both the Arctic and Antarctic, the Irish international ultra athlete has participated in many other extreme locations such as the Sahara and Atacama Deserts, the Andes and Himalayan mountains, and the Amazon Jungle.

Tim Harris (Great Britain / England)

Tim is a 23-year old fitness consultant and personal trainer who set a provisional new Guinness World Record for the fastest aggregate time to complete marathons on all seven continents. He is also the youngest to do so. Tim's packed itinerary saw him run the Patagonia Marathon (Argentina), Feilding Marathon (New Zealand), Palermo International Marathon (Sicily), Seattle Marathon (USA), Singapore Marathon (Singapore), Antarctic Ice Marathon (Antarctica), and Marrakech Marathon (Morocco) - all in the space of three months between 29 October 2006 and 28 January 2007. In total, Tim flew approximately 100, 000 miles, the equivalent of four times around the world, spending 150 hours on the plane and running 183 miles. Whilst attempting the record, he raised money for the charity WaterAid. After completing the marathon event, Tim also finished the 100k race.

John Kraus (USA)

John successfully completed a marathon on all seven continents when he finished the Antarctic Ice Marathon. He was very excited about the opportunity to not only participate in the race, but so see a part of the planet that few others have seen and he capped it off by also finishing the 100k. Having already completed continental marathons at Berlin, Sydney, Kilimanjaro, Rio De Janeiro, and Philadelphia, John ran the Shanghai Marathon on November 25th prior to departing for the Antarctic. The frozen continent saw him run a marathon on all seven continents over a fifteen-month period. Indeed, this past summer he also ran a 100-mile four-day stage race in the Namibian desert. John hopes to continue to take part in other international events in the future, including the North Pole Marathon. A medical director of a rehabilitation hospital in Philadelphia's suburbs, John has been running regularly since college and has remained injury free for over thirty years.

Gavin Melgaard (Australia)

Gavin is very keen on the outdoors and activities such as mountain biking, kayaking, adventure racing, canyoning and hiking keep him off the streets of Sydney in his spare time. Despite being aged only in his thirties, he has travelled to over sixty-five countries, visiting each continent several times. Although brand new to marathon running, with the Antarctic Ice Marathon being his first one, he has spent thirty-two days hiking solo in the Himalayas in the Mt Everest region, conducted a 300 km 'walk' along the coastal path of Wales and survived a very scary encounter with armed rebels while trekking in the jungles of Columbia. It was Gavin's third season at Patriot Hills, where he works for Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions from November through January.

Philippe Moreau (France)

Philippe took up running three years ago and has since successfully run the New York City Marathon, the Lisieux 80km, the Course des Templiers (70km), the Grand Raid de Cro Magnon (106km) and the Grand Raid de la Reunion (150km with 8,000 metres of climbing). The 44 year-old also finished joint fourth in the 2006 North Pole Marathon. He likes the idea of particpating in races where pushing beyond oneself is the principal objective. Philippe is married with three children. In addition to finishing co-third in the marathon, Philippe finished co-third in the Antarctic 100k.

Mike Nixon (South Africa)

Mike Pierce (USA)

Mike ran the inaugural Antarctic Ice Marathon in January 2006 and concentrated solely on the 100k (62.1 miles) on this occasion. Two or three times a week, he trained in a freezer in a cold-storage warehouse by either running in the 58-by-40 foot space or by cycling on a stationary bike. Mike, who comes from a triathlon background, even ran a full marathon distance in the freezer and his unusual training methodology attracted the attention of all the major US television networks and printed media. He succesfully completed the 100k in co-fifth position

Noelle Sheridan (USA)

Noelle set a Guinness World Record for women by running seven marathons on seven continents within seven months. En route to establishing the new world record at the Antarctic Ice Marathon, Noelle completed the Great Wall Marathon (China), San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon (USA), Big Five Marathon (South Africa), Blackmores Sydney Marathon (Australia), Amsterdam Marathon (Holland), and the Buenos Aires Marathon (Argentina). After several years away from the sport of running, the 31-year old ran her first marathon in New Orleans in 2001 and has since run many more - usually in the sub-four hour category. She was the sole female participant in the Ice Marathon.

Herve Taquet (France)

Herve has completed numerous marathons and ultramarathons and enjoys running long distances in extreme conditions such as high altitude. Among his races, Herve has run the Grand Raid de Cro Magnon (106km), the 100km de Millau, the Grand Raid de la Reunion (150km with 8,000 metres of climbing), and the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc (158km with over 8,500 metres of ascent). He also finished joint fourth in the 2006 North Pole Marathon. A 44 year-old kinesitherapist, he is married with four children. In addition to finishing co-third in the marathon, Herve finished co-third in the Antarctic 100k.

Jim Wood (USA)

Note: Alex Abramov (Russia), John Christiana (USA), Karo Ovasapyan (Armenia) and Igor Pokhvalin (Ukraine) are top mountaineers who attempted the event. They decided to withdraw at different points during the race rather than putting an imminent Mount Vinson attempt in jeopardy due to blistering or other running-related injuries.